


Feeling down? Dye your hair!

by TerusSpicyLasange



Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: Angst, Fluff, Hair Dyeing, M/M, No beta we kayak like Tim, The Lonely - Freeform, dyeing hair to cope, its mostly fluff, jon also dyed his hair but it was back in uni, reflections
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-11
Updated: 2020-07-11
Packaged: 2021-03-04 23:09:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,087
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25194451
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TerusSpicyLasange/pseuds/TerusSpicyLasange
Summary: Martin doesn't want to be reminded of his time in the Lonely whenever he looks in the mirror. Jon offers to help
Relationships: Martin Blackwood/Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist
Comments: 3
Kudos: 98





	Feeling down? Dye your hair!

**Author's Note:**

> i dyed my hair purple the other day so fuck it time to project onto martin! wrote most of this in one sitting  
> (fyi the reason for martin dying his hair is not the reason i dyed my hair but some of the emotions he has r the same to mine oops)

"Martin, what's this for?" Jon called out, taking the box from the paper bag.  
"Guess." Martin said sarcastically, rolling his eyes from the pantry.  
"Are you really dying your hair?" Jon asked, looking at the back of the box.  
Martin shrugged a bit. "I dunno." He sighed, neatly stacking boxes of cereal bars and biscuits next to each other. "It probably sounds weird, but after everything with the lonely and... And Peter, I just kind of want to change something about my appearance. Like, I'm not that person anymore? I don't want to look in the mirror now and think of all the times I used to look in the mirror and just saw some... Lifeless shell. If that makes sense." He smiled.  
Jon smiled sadly, cupping Martin's face with one hand. "I understand." He said quietly. "If you want, I'll help you do it after we put everything away?" Jon offered. Martin smiled and nodded in reply.  
_____

Martin sat on a dining chair in the kitchen, wearing old clothes with a towel around his shoulders. Jon put on the flimsy gloves they included in the box and mixed the cream with the colorant, shaking the bottle until the colour developed. He started applying the mixture to Martin's hair. They sat in silence for a few minutes as Jon worked.

"You seem to be really good at this," Martin said quietly, as if he didn't want to shatter the silence. "Have you done this before?"  
"It's just squeezing a cream into your hair and rubbing it around really, but yes, I've done it before." Jon smiled, parting off a dyed section to the side. "I used to help Georgie with her hair and I messed around with my own hair a lot in uni."   
"Wait," Martin said surprised, "Georgie dyes her hair?"   
"Yup, her hair went grey early because of her vitiligo." Jon explained, with an understanding "ohhh" from Martin.  
"And what colour did you dye yours?" Martin smiled. He loved getting to hear about Jon from uni. He never thought that the cold, stern man who held the position of head archivist was once in a band about immortal space pirates and, apparently, dyed his own hair different colours. But then again, he never thought his boss would slowly turn into an eldritch monster over time either.  
"Every colour under the sun," Jon smiled. "It started with bleached bangs, then I dyed them purple, then blue, I had them red for a while and then I said 'fuck it' and had all my hair dyed this horrible turquoise colour, it didn't suit me at all but I was too stubborn to say I made a mistake and kept it like that for at least 6 months."  
Martin couldn't help but laugh at the idea of 20 year old Jonathan Sims running around with crazy coloured hair. "What made you stop?" Martin asked once the giggled had subsided.  
"The bleach just kinda killed my hair," Jon sighed. "It was really brittle and I had to keep on top of it so much that Georgie said I could either dye it back black or she'd leave me."  
"Wait, seriously?!" Martin said in shock. It was only hair dye!  
"She said it, but she didn't actually mean it." Jon laughed. "I one-upped her anyways, I just shaved it all off!" He said proudly.  
"Oh my god," Martin laughed, "Where is this man now? That is NOT the Jon I know!"   
"The Jon you know is ten years older and has crippling paranoia, now stop moving, you're getting hair dye all over my shirt." He said nonchalantly, parting off another strand of coloured hair.

Once Martin's head (and forehead, neck and ears) was covered with the dye and left to sit for half an hour, Jon filled the kitchen sink with hot water and leaned Martin over it, getting a mug and filling it with the water to pour over Martin's head. Jon poured the water over his head at a weird angle, soaking Martin's clothes. Martin's back ached after a few minutes from the position and the water kept getting in his eyes, no matter how hard he pushed his hands or the towel against his face, the two playfully arguing over the scenario.  
After refilling the sink three our four times, the water finally ran clear and Martin went to go dry his hair. Jon took him to the bedroom to dry his hair for him, but purposely did it away from the mirror to keep the reveal from Martin.  
_____  
"Okay," Jon said, guiding Martin to the mirror with his hands over his eyes. "3... 2... 1!" Jon smiled, taking his hands away from Martin's face.  
Martin looked at himself in the mirror. His hair was hot pink. It wasn't the same colour as the model on the box's hair was, it wasn't meant to be so neon but he figured it was just his natural ginger colour coming through. He turned his head, looking at the new look from every angle he could get.  
"So..." Jon said quietly. "What do you think?"   
Martin looked at his hair again and then to Jon. "I love it. It feels like _me._ " He smiled.   
Jon shyly took hold on Martin's hand. "Do you still see the old you?" He asked solemnly.  
Martin looked in the mirror again. He compared what he saw now to what he used to see. The old Martin sat in a cloud of fog and dust, his reflection hazy and his thoughts far away. The only memory he had of that man was the icy flame of his hair amplified by the morning sun before his reality came back to his groggy brain. The man stood in front of him now was as clear as day. He stood in this room with the bed he shared with the man he loved, said man currently holding his hand as if it were his only tether to this world. He knew there was a darker reality waiting for them in the near future, but they would brace that future together. The icy flame had been replaced with a warm neon glow.  
"No," Martin said shakily. "I see someone completely different." He looked at Jon and leaned down a bit to place a gentle kiss on his cheek. "Thank you for helping Jon. It means a lot." He said tenderly.  
Jon's face softened with his tone. "Anything for you." He smiled, squeezing Martin's hand ever so subtly.


End file.
